Exploring and extending boundaries

Academic research is of tremendous importance in the quality of our teaching: it helps us to update and improve our degree programmes. At the same time, research is crucial in contributing towards international developments in our field of study and coming up with academically sound solutions and proposals in relation to issues in society. Our top-quality research explores and goes beyond the boundaries of our discipline where possible.

Overarching strategy

Our researchers conduct thorough research and publish their findings - in dissertations, books and scholarly publications, including our own legal journals such as the Leiden Journal of International Law. In addition, we gladly share news from our faculty with a broader public, for example via social media, our own Leiden Law Blog and in debates. For example, each year we organise a large national criminology conference at our own faculty.

To maximise the quality of its academic research, Leiden University focusses on a number of research profile areas. Within this overarching strategy, the research programme ‘Interaction between legal systems’ has been designated as the main focus at our faculty: a multi-disciplinary programme that stimulates innovative research. Besides this profile area, we have also established a number of other research programmes. Our researchers contribute to multi-disciplinary research projects at Leiden University in which knowledge of law and criminology can make a vital contribution.

» Our website provides an overview of our current research programmes.

Leiden contribution at prominent seminar

At the annual Hendrik Muller Summer Seminar organised by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, more than twenty recent graduates and PhD students in Social Sciences and Humanities study a topical social theme, supervised by experts. In 2019 Vestert Borger, Assistant Professor in European Law, was invited to organise this seminar together with Luuk van Middelaar, Professor of Foundations and Practice of the European Union and its Institutions. The theme was ‘Europe between America and China: Constitutional systems, cultural identities, political choices’: highly topical, considering the changing world order through the emergence of China as a world power, and the America First focus of the United States. Literally stuck in the middle, how is Europe responding and what does it want? Nine speakers from various disciplines shed light on this theme. ■

Opportunities for young researchers

Our special Pre-PhD programme is geared to prepare master’s students and recent graduates for embarking on a PhD research position. They focus on their research skills and are helped in drawing up and submitting a PhD research proposal, in Leiden or elsewhere. Each year, around fifteen talented researchers take part on the programme.

European collaboration

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) is our most important partner in Europe. Leiden University is one of the 23 universities who are a member of LERU. This organisation represents the interests of researchintensive universities and maintains close contacts with the major actors in policy on European research.

Each year a number of PhD students spend a few weeks at another LERU partner. We, in turn, also welcome researchers to Leiden each year. An exchange of ideas is also carried out in various other ways including plenary conferences and individual meetings. In this way we stimulate joint research in the field of Law and Criminology and are able to inform each other by exchanging knowledge on current developments.

23 International partner universities

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PhD defences

30 Nationalities researchers